OAKLAND, Calif.—The electronics manufacturing services provider Digicom Electronics, Inc., reports that it is generating its own nitrogen for use in its solder reflow, selective soldering, and hand soldering manufacturing processes to strengthen the bonds and improve solder adhesion. The addition of nitrogen, part of Digicom’s Diamond Track Manufacturing Processes, is said to minimize device failure and ensure printed circuit board integrity, especially for mission critical products for the medical, military and aerospace, industrial, and RF wireless industries.

“Manufacturers must seek every way possible to eliminate failures of the devices they manufacture,” said Mo Ohady, general manager, Digicom Electronics, in a company release. “Many major failures result from a weakness in the solder joint that connects the wire bond to the PCB, or the solder connecting the device or package to the board. Processes that seem to benefit the most are the ones that have a narrower pitch, so the narrower the pitch, the more that nitrogen use is recommended. Studies show a 50-60 percent reduction in defect level when using nitrogen in the reflow process. Digicom seeks to employ technologies that produce products of the highest quality. Towards that end, we have implemented nitrogen in our manufacturing process.”

The nitrogen is generated and piped directly to machine inputs and work areas at a prescribed volume and pressure to achieve optimized saturation of the inert gas and to eliminate oxidation at critical moments of the soldering operation.

Digicom’s white paper, “Can Nitrogen Reduce Failures in Medical Devices?” explores the use of nitrogen in the manufacturing process and ways to minimize device failure. A copy is available for download on the Digicom.org website at www.digicom.org/articles.html.

Digicom’s certifications include ISO 9001:2008, ISO 13485:2003 (medical device quality), quality system regulation 21 CFR 820, mil-spec 45208, and ITAR. The company will be exhibiting at BIOMEDevice in San Jose, California, December 7-8, 2016 (booth 327).